When I was in college I took a class on Early Christian History. It was not taught through a Bible college, it was a class I took at UNM because it gave me an extra history credit I needed and it was interesting to me. During the course of this class, we had to read some of the books of the Apocrypha, which are books that we don’t recognize as part of the Bible, but many Catholics do. One of the books, and I don’t remember which one, maybe the gospel according to Thomas, it told an odd story about Jesus as a young boy. It was before the incident where He stays at the Temple while the rest of His family returns home and they don’t realize He’s gone for three days while He’s preaching and teaching at the Temple.
This odd story goes something like this: Jesus and his friends were hanging out one day, and He decides He wants to show them that He can raise the dead to life. So He kills a bird…so He can raise it back to life. Right away it occurred to me that this is one of the reasons why we don’t accept this book as part of the Bible, because this story of Jesus killing an animal just so He can show off His powers of resurrection are so uncharacteristic of who Jesus is. He was not proud or boastful about His divine powers or His status as God’s Son.
Have you ever read something like that, something claiming to be truth about Jesus and you could see right away that it didn’t fit with His known character? I’d like you to join me in the book of Matthew this morning for a look at a passage that some say is out of character for Christ. You’ll find it in Matthew 21:18-22.
“Now in the early morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. 19 And seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves alone; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered. 20 Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” 21 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all.” (NASB)
If you were just reading this and not paying careful attention, at first glance it may seem very out of character for Jesus. It seems impatient, impulsive, uncaring. It seems even worse when you look at Mark’s account of this event, which tells us that it wasn’t even the season for figs yet, so was Jesus cursing this tree to whither when it wasn’t even reasonable to expect figs in the first place? What is this all about?
Some have suggested that Jesus was just really hungry. He was looking for breakfast, and was really hungry and maybe even a bit cranky because he was hungry…that he was HANGRY. We can dismiss that conclusion entirely. Jesus is not going to be tempted to display unkind and unjust anger just because He’s hungry. Consider his 40 day fast in the desert. Clearly He could handle being a little hungry. Okay, so He wasn’t hungry.
Let’s look at Mark’s version of this story. “On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. 13 Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.” (Mark 11:12-14, NASB)
Like I mentioned before, it was not the season for figs. This is around the time of the Passover, so mid-spring. Figs don’t ripen until June, or even later in the summer, so there certainly wouldn’t have been any ripe figs on any trees yet. However, there should have been green figs. These are unripened figs that still would’ve been edible. They wouldn’t have been as tasty as a ripe fig, but if you were hungry enough, you could still eat it. But these passages in Matthew and Mark both say that all Jesus found on the tree was leaves. What He expected to find, what He should have found, was at the very least green figs, edible, not as great, but still would do the trick to eat something. He wasn’t just hangry and making a rash decision because of His hunger, and He expected that there should have been figs, at least green ones that He could eat, and found nothing but leaves.
So we understand then that this passage, as well as Mark’s telling of it, and as we’ll look at briefly, Luke’s version as well, are a symbol for the BARRENNESS OF GOD’S PEOPLE. The expectation, God’s expectation, was that when He looked at the hearts and lives of His people, that He would see fruit that was consistent with a relationship with Him. Instead, when Christ came to enter the city on a donkey, the Jewish people were indignant about children singing in the Temple as Jesus rode through the streets. When He came to claim His Temple, they complained about Him and conspired to have Him killed. What God expected was that His people should be bearing FRUIT. But they were not. They were barren, just like the fig tree.
Matthew 3 has John, the Baptist, speaking to God’s people gathered to him to listen to his proclamation about the coming Christ, and he told them this, “And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.” (v. 10, NASB). This is the Kingdom truth Jesus was demonstrating with the fig tree, and it’s a spiritual truth. If you don’t bear good fruit, as one who belongs to God, you will be cut down and thrown into the fire. This is what happens to barren trees, they are cut down.
I don’t really want to speculate what that means or looks like. I don’t want to know. I don’t ever want to put myself in a position where I would find out what it means to be cut down because I wasn’t bearing good fruit.
The account that Luke gives in Luke 13:6-9 says this, “And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. 7 And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Look! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ 8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, leave it alone for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; 9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’” (NASB) So, the unfruitful people of God should be cut down, but Christ intercedes to give us more time. How much time? We don’t know. And as I said before, I don’t ever want to put myself in a position where I would find out that I’ve gone too long without bearing fruit and my time is up.
God expects that His people will bear fruit. When we don’t, well…Scripture says we’ll be cut down, cut off. We don’t want to be people who have been cut off, cut down from the life of God in Christ. We need to bear fruit.
There’s lots of places in Scripture that talk about Spiritual fruit, but when you look at them all, this is what you could sum up, and it falls into three categories. Bearing good fruit in God means growing in your trust for God, both in your faith and obedience for Him. Trusting Him enough to not take back control, trusting Him enough to handle the difficulties, trusting Him enough to obey even when you don’t understand. Bearing good fruit means growing in the character of Christ, your attitudes. Are you loving toward all, are you joyful in all circumstances, do you have deep peace that stays in the midst of trouble, are you patient with difficult people, are you kind even to strangers, are you good to those in your life, are you a faithful person that can be trusted with difficult things, are you gentle to those who are fragile, are you governed by self-control, are you humble to accept when you are wrong or might need to change and adapt, do you exemplify holiness and righteousness when no one is watching, do you think on what is pure and lovely, do you speak truth in all ways, do you forgive as Christ has forgiven you? In short, do you have the mind of Christ? Bearing good fruit means using the gifts the Spirit has given you to serve Christ and His people. Do you know what your gifts are? Are you actively using them?
All of these are the fruit God expects His people to bear, and yes, we have a little time to grow if we’re not growing, but if we stay in a state of stagnant barrenness, eventually we will whither. Scripture of course tells us what bearing fruit requires of us, so that will be what we look at next.
What does bearing fruit require of us? It’s true that the Holy Spirit does the work of cultivating fruit in us, He grows us, He changes us, He gives us gifts, but we must create an environment where fruit can grow. We have to be willing participants in the fruit growing process.
Look at Matthew 13:23, “But the one sown with seed on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.” (NASB) We chose what kind of soil is in our hearts. Are we going to be good soil that allows fruit to be produced or will we be bad soil that chokes all life? We have to be spiritual receptive, willing to let the Spirit do as He desires in our lives. You have to say yes to bearing fruit. You have to be willing and humble to do what is necessary, what is required. You have to be an active participant. It’s not enough to just say, “yes”, and then expect the Spirit to do all the heavy lifting. You must work with Him as He works to change you. What kind of soil will you be? There are several other passages in your last question in your bulletin that speak about this as well that you can look into to see how to be a person who is spiritual receptive to the work of the Spirit in you to create good fruit. (Luke 10:38-39; Acts 17:11; 1 Thessalonians 2:13)
You must also be actively abiding in Christ. John 15:5 and 10 says this, “I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.” (NASB)
Abiding in Christ is how Christians bear fruit. Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author and abolitionist once wrote, “How does the branch bear fruit? Not by incessant effort for sunshine and air, not by vain struggles…It simply abides in the vine, in silent and undisturbed union, and blossoms, and fruit appear as of spontaneous growth. How then shall a Christian bear fruit? By efforts and struggles to obtain that which is freely given?…No: there must be a full concentration of the thoughts and affections on Christ, a complete surrender of the whole being to Him, a constant looking to Him for grace.” Just like Mary sitting at the feet of Christ, sitting and staying in Him, listening to His words, instead of the struggling Martha went through, this is abiding in Christ. Staying in Him, choosing His way in moments when others don’t go His way. Entrusting Him with our lives in every way. This is how we bear fruit. Know Christ, stay in Christ, be in Christ.
Bearing fruit requires constant contact with Living Water. Psalm 1:3 says this about those who are in constant contact with Living Water, “He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.” (NASB) The image depicted here is of a tree planted by water, its roots grow deep. It has a constant source of life-giving nourishment, it is never in a season of drought because it is always being fed.
Such a tree always bears fruit in season, its leaves are always green, they prosper in all things because they are constantly in contact with Living Water. When we apply this image to people, what we understand is that those who are in constant contact with Jesus, the Living Water, dig deep roots by digging into the Word of God. Jesus is the Living Water, He said as much Himself, but He is also the word made flesh. If we want to be like the tree, we need to constantly be in the source of life-giving nourishment, not just abiding in Christ like Mary did, but being in the word of God. Dig deep into it, learn what Christ said and says to you still, learn what God has spoken, learn what the Spirit says. Learn from those who have served God before you, others who bore good fruit and how they were receptive to the Spirit, how they stayed in Christ, how they dug into God’s Word. Be rooted in Living Water through the Word of God.
We bear fruit through letting the old life we had die. John 12:24 says this, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (NASB) Let who you were die, and you will bear fruit in Christ. If we continue to use the metaphor or image of the Christian life as a tree or a plant, if you’ve got a tree planted in terrible soil, the fruit it bears, if it bears any at all, is going to be poor in comparison to fruit that comes from a tree planted in good soil. Bad soil and weeds not only keep plants from producing good fruit, but they also choke out whatever fruit it might bear, even bad fruit. Your old life will not only keep you from bearing good fruit, but your old life will actively destroy any fruit in your life, even if it’s not good fruit. The habits and behaviors and thoughts and words of your old life will bring nothing but destruction. Bearing good fruit, growing trust in God in the form of faith and obedience, growing the character of Christ, and using the gifts of the Spirit requires letting your old life die completely.
And finally, bearing good fruit requires pruning. John 15:2 gives us this, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” (NASB) If you are spiritual receptive to His Spirt, you say yes to what He desires to do in your life, you abide in Christ, stay in Him, you stay in contact with the Living Water and dig deep roots into the Word of God, you let the old life die, sometimes there are things that need to be pruned. You prune a tree to make it bear more fruit, as this passage says. What do you prune? Well, God prunes off whatever is dead or dying, so as you leave behind the old life and let it die, God will prune those things out of your life. God prunes off whatever is going to keep you from growing more, whatever about your life that is diseased or infected, maybe thought patterns you developed in childhood that hurt you or don’t allow you to take on a more Christ-centered world-view. God renews our minds to think His way. He prunes vices, insecurities, fears, anything that causes harm.
But He also can prune good things that keep us from growing. Maybe not allowing you to get that promotion that would pay more is actually better for you because it causes you to better steward your finances. Maybe having you move half-way across the country to a place where you know no one causes you to have more trust in the Lord. Sometimes good things don’t happen or we are removed from good things as an act of pruning so we can grow.
This is what good fruit requires: saying yes to whatever God asks, staying in Christ, digging deeply into the Word, letting the old life die, and allowing God to prune you. This grows our trust in God, this allows for greater faith and obedience. This grows the character of Christ in us and changes our minds and heart attitudes to reflect Jesus. This frees us up to use the gifts of the Spirit in wise, encouraging ways that build one another up. This is fruit, and this is what God expects us to bear. Lest we be like the Pharisees, who even though they had leaves of piety and holiness, had no fruit of genuine righteousness.
1. What fruit do you see in your walk with Christ (growing trust, growing character of Christ, use of gifts)? If any of these is lacking fruit, what does it require to bear fruit?
2. How do you see fruit of a walk with Christ displayed in your relationships with His body?
3. Dig deep into these passages this week. What do they add to your understanding about growing spiritual fruit? (2 Corinthians 4:11; Galatians 2:20; Revelation 3:19; Luke 10:38-39; Acts 17:11; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 12:5, 11; 1 John 2:6, 28; 3:6; 2 John 9; Deuteronomy 8:5; Proverbs 3:11-12; John 4:10; 7:37-38; Revelation 7:17; 22:17)